Articles
Frillneck MP3 recording yak-fish'n cap
- Category: Kayak fishing apparel
- Published on Saturday, 01 January 2011 17:28
- Written by Josh
- Hits: 2520
The topic of headwear doesn't get discussed as often as it probably should in kayak fishing circles and the Frillneck cap in particular, doesn't get as much praise as it probably deserves. This is ironic, because it is the single most popular piece of apparel common among Aussie kayak fishos. I suppose we all just take them for granted.
There's little wonder the Frillneck caps are so popular among us - it's one of the only caps on the market that are truly suitable for use in a wide variety of conditions and seemingly purpose built for anglers. Made from soft absorbant quick-dry, they're lightweight, warm enough to help on a cold windy day and cool enough to be used for sun protection on a hot sunny day. With a long peak with a long and wide neck cape, the Frillneck offers unsurpassed protection from the sun and is designed in such a way as to accommodate various ways to wear it... and as I found out, ways to get creative with it.
While doing some sound recording experiments from the kayak I'd been struggling to find the best way to mount a mic and store the recording device. So far I've been through 3 mics, finally settling on the smallest of the 3, with the best stereo performance. Originally I'd tried mounting the mic to the PFD shoulder strap, but this meant that whenever I turned my head in the opposite direction, sound was muffled. I then tried a mouthpiece mic attached the a headest, which resulted in pretty consistant audio, but was a pain in the rear to wear. With the recording device stored in a small waterproof satchel in a pocked of my PFD, this meant that there was always a cord running from the headset to my PFD. This got messy whenever I took off the cap.
Giving the problem more thought I considered the notion of integrating both the audio recorder and mic into the Frillneck cap, which would eliminate the annoying lenth of cord. As fate would have it, the small zippered pocked at the rear flap of the Frillneck cap is perfectly shaped to house the satchel containing the recorder. And because the inside liner is fine mesh, I can see the 'record' and 'stop' buttons and actuate them freely. The mic is attached to the inside of the peak, which means it is always about 6 inches away from my mouth, and should provide clear consistant sound. Not only is this set up less clumsy, it's also a lot more discreet than the headset and mic arrangement.
I'm glad I finally found a use for that little pocket at the rear of the Frillneck cap. I was starting to wonder why they put it there. Now I know.